Bosphorus ship movements – 4 November 2016

     On 4 November 2016 the brand new guided missile frigate Admiral Grigorovich(484) of the Black Sea Fleet was spotted southbound. The Admiral Grigorovich class (Фрегаты проекта 11356Р/М) is the latest class of frigates ordered by the Russian Navy for the Black Sea Fleet. Six ships (two batches of three ships)[2] have been ordered so far to be built by the "Yantar" shipyard in Kaliningrad.  

Also heading southbound was the minesweeper Professor Nikolai Muru (SB45).

Austria sends troops to Hungary-Serbia border

 

A new fence is being built at the Hungarian-Serbian
border on October 27, 2016 (AFP Photo/Csaba Segesvari)

   Vienna (AFP) --- Austria on Thursday sent 60 troops to Hungary's border with non-EU Serbia as Vienna's defence minister warned that the EU's migrants deal with Turkey was "showing cracks".

     Austria's defence ministry said that the soldiers will not be armed or be involved in intercepting people making it past Hungary's border fence with Serbia.

     Hungary has been criticized by rights groups and others for its alleged mistreatment of refugees and its refusal to take in some of the huge numbers of refugees who arrived in Europe in 2015.

     Based at Hodmezovasarhely near Szeged in south-east Hungary initially for six months, the Austrian soldiers are sappers who will help build roads and erect containers.

     Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said that EU countries needed to do more to protect their borders because the bloc's accord with Turkey risked unravelling.

     "In my opinion the cracks in this accord are starting to show," Doskozil told Oe1 public radio. "We have a time window in Europe in which to organise ourselves" before the deal collapses, he said.

     "Therefore it is right, and high time, that... EU member states recognise this and confront this challenge, deal with the problem themselves and be ready to act themselves."

     Under the EU-Turkey deal in force since March, Ankara agreed to take back migrants who made it to Greece in return for being allowed to send Syrians to the bloc in an orderly redistribution programme.

     However Greece has been slow to send migrants back to Turkey. Athens says this is because many have applied for asylum which means that they cannot be moved until the claims are processed.

In addition Greece complains that the EU has failed to provide additional assistance as promised and to share enough of the thousands of migrants around the bloc.

     Athens wants to transfer some of the nearly 16,000 migrants on its islands to the mainland but faces opposition from EU partners who fear a mass resurgence of migrants heading north, Greek migration minister Yannis Mouzalas said Monday.

Bosphorus ship movements – 30 October 2016

     On the 30^th of October the USS Carney (64) was spotted heading southbound into the Mediterranean. The USS Carney (DDG-64) is the 14th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy and its home port is in Rota, Spain.

NATO increasing military presence in Eastern Europe to counter Russia

     BRUSSELS, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- NATO countries, including the United States and Britain, on Wednesday pledged to increase their military presence in Eastern Europe to levels rivaling the Cold War to counter Russian aggression.

     Britain said it would send fighter jets to Romania in 2017, also contributing to a 4,000-strong ground force along with Germany, Canada and other allies to be deployed in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe.

     The United States pledged tanks, artillery and more than 900 ground troops to Poland as part of a "battle-ready" task force ordered by President Barack Obama.

     The announcement follows an agreement of a NATO summit in Warsaw in July in which NATO said it would deploy four battalions by early 2017 in the region. NATO defense ministers met on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels to discuss how to handle NATO's "deterrence and defense, and also on how to project stability beyond our borders."

     "Close to our borders, Russia continues its assertive military posturing. Including with massive, non-notice exercises," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference. "This month alone, Russia has deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad and suspended a weapons-grade plutonium agreement with the United States. And Russia continues to destabilize eastern Ukraine with military and financial support for the separatists. These moves do not lower tensions or restore predictability to our relations."

     Stoltenberg also criticized Russia's actions in Syria, particularly in Aleppo. In September 2015, Russia began aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally, by carrying out airstrikes against Assad's enemies -- which include the Islamic State and rebel forces, some of which are considered moderate by the United States.

     Stoltenberg said that although NATO is working to deescalate tensions and increase dialogue with Russia to establish a "more cooperative and constructive relationship" -- adding that NATO does not "want a new Cold War" or a "new arms race" -- the alliance must react to Russia's "substantial and significant military buildup."

    "Russia has tripled defense spending. Russia has invested heavily in a modern military equipment," Stoltenberg added. "They are conducting a large scale no notice exercises close to NATO boarders, but perhaps most importantly Russia has been willing to use military force against neighbors. We have seen that in Georgia and we have seen it in Ukraine with illegal annexation of Crimea and the continued destabilization of Eastern Ukraine."

Bosphorus ship movements – 26 October 2016

     On 26 October 2016 the only naval ship sited through the Bosphorus is the SB-5 Russian Naval Tug heading southbound into the Med.

Russia beefs up Baltic Fleet amid NATO tensions

(L-R) Russian navy corvette Steregushchy, destroyer
Nastoichivy and frigate Admiral Gorshkov are
anchored in a bay of the Russian fleet base in Baltiysk
in Kaliningrad region, Russia, July 19, 2015.
REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov

     MOSCOW/STOCKHOLM (Reuters) --- Russia is sharply upgrading the firepower of its Baltic Fleet by adding warships armed with long-range cruise missiles to counter NATO's build-up in the region, Russian media reported on Wednesday.

     There was no official confirmation from Moscow, but the reports will raise tensions in the Baltic, already heightened since Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, and cause particular alarm in Poland and Lithuania which border Russia's base there.

     The reported deployment comes as NATO is planning its biggest military build-up on Russia's borders since the Cold War to deter possible Russian aggression.

     Russia's daily Izvestia newspaper cited a military source as saying that the first two of five ships, the Serpukhov and the Zeleny Dol, had already entered the Baltic Sea and would soon become part of a newly formed division in Kaliningrad, Russia's European exclave sandwiched between Poland and Lithuania.

     Another source familiar with the situation told the Interfax news agency that the two warships would be joining the Baltic Fleet in the coming days.

     "With the appearance of two small missile ships armed with the Kalibr cruise missiles the Fleet's potential targeting range will be significantly expanded in the northern European military theater," the source told Interfax.

     Russia's Defence Ministry, which said earlier this month the two ships were en route to the Mediterranean, did not respond to a request for comment, but NATO and the Swedish military confirmed the two warships had entered the Baltic.

     "NATO navies are monitoring this activity near our borders," said Dylan White, the alliance's acting spokesman.

     The Buyan-M class corvettes are armed with nuclear-capable Kalibr cruise missiles, known by the NATO code name Sizzler, which the Russian military says have a range of at least 1,500 km (930 miles).

     Though variants of the missile are capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the ships are believed to be carrying conventional warheads.

     "The addition of Kalibr missiles would increase the strike range not just of the Baltic Fleet, but of Russian forces in the Baltic region, fivefold," said Ben Nimmo, a defense analyst at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, who has been tracking the ships' progress.

    "The two small corvettes, with their modern, nuclear-capable missiles, may yet have an impact out of proportion to their size in the Baltic."

SWEDEN, POLAND WORRIED

    Izvestia said Russia's Baltic Fleet would probably receive a further three such small warships armed with the same missiles by the end of 2020.

    It said the Baltic Fleet's coastal defenses would also be beefed up with the Bastion and Bal land-based missile systems. The Bastion is a mobile defense system armed with two anti-ship missiles with a range of up to 300 km (188 miles). The Bal anti-ship missile has a similar range.

     Sweden's Defence Minister said his country was worried by the presence of the warships in the Baltic Sea, complaining the move was likely to keep tension in the region high.

     "This is ... worrying and is not something that helps to reduce tensions in our region," Defence Minister Peter Hultqvist told Sweden's national TT news agency. "This affects all the countries round the Baltic."

     Swedish media said the Kalibr missiles had the range to hit targets across the Nordic region. The Russian Defence Ministry said in August that the two corvettes had been used to fire cruise missiles at militants in Syria.

     Polish Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz, in Brussels for a NATO meeting, called the deployment "an obvious cause for concern," the PAP news agency reported. "Moving such ships into the Baltic changes the balance of power," he said.

     Earlier this month, Russia moved nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles into Kaliningrad leading to protests from Lithuania and Poland.

Bosphorus ship movements – 25 October 2016

     On 25 October four ships were spotted transiting the Bosphorus. The two northbound ships were the Tsezar Kunikov(158) a Ropucha class landing ship which is part of the 197^th Assault Ship Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet. The other ship was the SB-5 Russian Naval Tug.

     Heading southbound was the Kazan-60 Russian auxiliary cargo ship and the Alexander Shabalin(110) which is a Russian large landing ship of the Ropucha class.

SB-5 Russian Naval Tug

Alexander Shabalin (110)

Tsezar Kunikov(158)

Kazan-60 Russian Navy

Bosphorus ship movements – 24 October 2016

USS Carney (DDG-64)

     On the 24^th of October the USS Carney (64) was spotted heading north into the Black Sea. The USS Carney (DDG-64) is the 14th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy and its home port is in Rota, Spain.

Serbia unmasks plot to sway election in neighbouring Montenegro

     BELGRADE (Reuters) --- Serbia has detained a number of people over a suspected plot to sway the outcome of Montenegro's Oct. 16 election, the Serbian prime minister said on Monday, citing "undeniable and material" evidence found by his country's security services.Aleksandar Vucic's remarks were the first detailed Serbian reaction to the arrests on election day in Montenegro of 20 Serbian citizens, including a retired police general, accused of planning attacks on government institutions and officials.

     The vote, in which veteran Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic's party came out ahead but without a parliamentary majority, was billed as an opportunity for voters to endorse his pro-NATO and pro-EU stance instead of pursuing closer relationships with traditional allies like Serbia and Russia.

     Vucic told a news conference that the evidence found included 125,000 euros ($135,975) in cash and stashed uniforms that were to be used in attacks on Montenegrin state institutions and individuals. Supportive evidence had been given by detained suspects under questioning, he said.

Vucic gave no details of the nature of the attacks planned on Oct. 16. He also did not name the suspects Serbian authorities had found, some of whom were in custody, but said they were not the same as those arrested in Montenegro.

     "We have undeniable evidence that certain individuals, and they are certainly not those arrested down there, have been following movements of the Montenegrin prime minister and informing other people about them," Vucic said, adding that other groups might yet be found.

     "We could not find evidence of involvement by Serbian or Montenegrin politicians," he added.

Serbia and Montenegro, its tiny neighbour on the Adriatic coast, are both former Yugoslav republics whose governments are seeking closer ties with the European Union and NATO against the wishes of some opposition nationalists and leftists.

     Before the election, Djukanovic told Reuters that Russia was financing the opposition in order to derail Montenegro's imminent NATO membership. Opposition parties, many also pro-NATO, deny this and reject the outcome of the "rigged" vote.

     Cyber attacks shut down media and party websites and Montenegrin authorities suspended instant messaging services for much of election day, saying illegal "direct marketing" - believed to refer to opposition campaigning - was taking place.

     While election observers found that the outcome broadly reflected "the will of the people", Djukanovic, who has dominated Montenegro's political life for a quarter for a century, has been accused of authoritarian tendencies.

     His Democratic Party of Socialists, which won 36 seats in the 81-member parliament, is seeking allies to build a majority coalition, but it remains unclear if other parties will support him.

US to deploy 330 troops in Norway

     Oslo (AFP) --- The United States will deploy over 300 troops in Norway, the Norwegian government announced Monday, in a move set to upset neighbouring Russia.

     The 330 Marines, to be stationed on rotation around 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) from the Russian border, will be engaged in training and manoeuvres in almost Arctic conditions, the Norwegian defence ministry said.

     The announcement comes against a backdrop of increasing tensions between Russia and the West over Ukraine and the conflict in Syria, although Norway itself enjoys good relations with its giant neighbour.

     The US already has vast amounts of military equipment positioned in NATO ally Norway -- notably in tunnels dug into mountains -- but no troops.

     "This US-initiative is welcome and also fits well within ongoing processes in NATO to increase exercises, training and interoperability within the Alliance," Norwegian Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide said in the statement.

     "The defence of Norway is dependent on allied reinforcements, and it is crucial for Norwegian security that our allies come here to gain knowledge of how to operate in Norway and with Norwegian forces," she added.

     Before joining NATO in 1949, Norway allayed Russian fears by pledging not to open its territory to foreign combat troops so long as Norway was not attacked or threatened with attack.

     This pledge was later amended to allow foreign troops to conduct manoeuvres in Norway.

     The deployment, which will begin in January, is a US initiative which Oslo is presenting as a trial to be evaluated during 2017.

     Last week the Russian embassy in Oslo expressed surprise as the idea of stationing US troops in Norway was mooted.

     "Taking into account multiple statements made by Norwegian officials about the absence of threat from Russia to Norway, we would like to understand why Norway is so much willing to increase its military potential, in particular through the stationing of American forces in Vaernes," embassy spokesman Maxime Gourov said in an email sent to AFP on Friday.

     Former senior Norwegian army officer Jacob Borresen said the planned deployment "sends negative signals eastwards".

     The big risk, he told broadcaster NRK, is that the move creates a Cold War-style "confrontation zone".

     In July, NATO announced it would deploy, also on a rotational basis, four multinational battalions to Poland and to Baltic states to deter any Russian incursion.

Bosphorus ship movements – 23 October 2016

     On 23 October only one ship was spotted and that was the American USS Mount Whitney heading southbound into the Mediterranean.

     The USS Mount Whitney (LCC/JCC 20) is a Blue Ridge class command ship of the US Navy; it is the flagship of the Sixth Fleet. She is also the command and control ship for the Commander Joint Command Lisbon and the Commander Striking Force NATO. She had previously served for years as the COMSTRIKFLTLANT(NATO Designation) / Second Fleet's command ship.  

Bosphorus ship movements – 22 October 2016

     On 22 October the French Naval ship Premier-Maitre L’Her (F-792) was spotted heading southbound int the Mediterranean. The French ship Premier-Maitre L’Her (F-792) is classified as Avisos. These ships are used for coastal antisubmarine operations and long range patrol. This ship incorporates a Syracuse II SATCOM Data Combat System, and the antisubmarine mortar has been removed.  

Lithuania splurges on its largest ever military purchase

Lithuania announced its biggest ever arms purchase on
Monday amid continued fears of Russian aggression.

     The 386 million euro purchase of 88 armored fighting vehicles is Lithuania 's largest military purchase ever. The deal comes amid growing tensions in the aftermath of Russia's annexation of the Crimea in 2014.

     The tiny Baltic country, with Russia on its doorstep, has agreed to purchase 88 Boxer armored fighting vehicles from the German-Dutch consortium ARTEC for 386 million euros ($437 million). They come equipped with Israeli-made turrets.

Lithuania, with a population of just 2.9 million, is
the largest of the three Baltic states, which also
include Latvia and Estonia.

     Defense Minister Juozas Olekas defended the purchase after inking the deal.

     "It's a long-term investment into national defense and also a signal that Lithuania takes its security and investing in it seriously," Olekas said.

     The first delivery of vehicles is expected to reach Lithuania in 2017 and the rest by 2021.

     All three broke free from Moscow in 1991 the Soviet empire collapsed.

Doubling defense budget

     Lithuania's defense budget has more than doubled since it spent $300 million (265 million euros) in 2013. It is spending nearly $650 million this year and has earmarked $725 million for 2017. The figure represents 1.79 percent of economic output.

     The increase began to spike in 2014 after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine. Alarmed by the land-grab, Lithuania also reintroduced limited conscription last year.

German soldiers on a Boxer armoured fighting vehicle
during a presentation of the German army

     Despite these efforts, Lithuania remains largely dependent on its NATO partners to ensure its security.

     Germany agreed to lead a multinational battalion in Lithuania last month after NATO approved a troop increase for the Baltic states and Poland to reassure alliance members once ruled by Moscow.

     The Kremlin insists it doesn't have any territorial ambitions in the region and accuses NATO of trying to encircle Russia.

     Chancellor Angela Merkel's government had also come under fire from pacifists over a near doubling of the country's arms exports since 2014 when the country exported 4 billion euros worth of military equipment.

     The latest figures for 2016 project sales of $7.8 billion, making Germany the third largest arms exporter in the world, after the United States and Russia. But German sales are a fraction of the two front runners - about a quarter of the sales from Russia.

Japanese and British fighter planes meet in the air for first time since WW 2

     MISAWA, Japan (Reuters) --- British fighter planes will take on Japanese aircraft for the first time since World War Two in aerial combat drills following the arrival in Japan on Saturday of four Royal Air Force Typhoon Eurofighters.

     The joint practice at Japan's northern Misawa Air Base starts on Sunday and will be the first time Japan’s air force train at home with a foreign force other than that of the United States.

     The jets along with a C-17 support plane touched down early in the evening under overcast skies, their high-pitched screams prompting some onlookers to cover their ears.

     The Typhoons will face off against and fly with Japanese F-15s and domestically built Mitsubishi F-2s in an exercise dubbed Guardian North 16.

     "We will learn from each other, and ultimately we will make friendships that will tie us together more closely in the future," RAF Lieutenant Colonel Roger Elliot, said in introductory remarks to 100 Japan Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) personnel.

     Both countries want to hone scramble techniques to counter foreign military aircraft approaching their airspaces. Both regularly shadow Russian planes and the JASDF scrambles when Chinese jets approaching its southwestern border.

     As China's control of the neighboring South China Sea tightens, Japan worries that Beijing's attention is turning toward the East China Sea where Japan controls a chain of islands stretching 1,400 km (870 miles) towards Taiwan.

     In the six months to the end of September, Japanese fighters took off to chase Chinese planes 407 times compared with 231 times a year earlier, according to the JASDF. Encounters with Russian bombers and surveillance planes, which fly in from the north rose 67 percent to 180 incidents.

     The Typhoon visit is also an opportunity for Japan's air force see Europe's most advanced jet as it looks at proposals for developing a new fighter to replace its F-2s at a cost of as much as $40 billion.

     In 2011 Japan considered a bid by BAE Systems to sell it the Typhoon in a competition ultimately won by Lockheed Martin Corp with its F-35 stealth fighter.

     Japan has yet to decide what kind of aircraft its new fighter, dubbed the F-3, will be, but the choice is between a cheaper non-stealth superiority fighter based on an existing design, such as the Eurofighter, or a more expensive program to build a stealth fighter like the U.S. F-22 Raptor.

Russian warships point their guns towards British soil in provocative display off the coast of Dover

Soldiers armed with automatic rifles and clad in bulletproof vests stared down fishermen and tourists desperate to catch a glimpse of the flotilla heading to Syria

The Russian flotilla, led by the Admiral Kuznetsov,
passes the White Cliffs of Dover today

     Machine guns at the ready, terrifying armed soldiers stare at Dover locals from on board a Russian military ship just off the British coast today.

     As these extraordinary photographs show, the Russian personnel were clad in bullet-proof vests and helmets as the pointed their automatic weapons towards English soil.

     The solders were patrolling the deck of the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov as pilots sat ready in nearby fighter jets, in a provocative display of Russian military might being closely watched by the British Royal Navy.

     Dover Marina wrote on its Facebook page: "Suffice to say, being overflown by jet aircraft at low altitude and watching HMS Duncan's helicopter take off, it was a great morning."

Some of the weaponry on one of the Russian ships as
 personnel keep watch today

     "There aren't really any words to describe it, so I won't even bother. Instead, I will leave you to enjoy the images."

     The flotilla of Russian warships was sailing down the English Channel today as tensions between Britain and Vladimir Putin reached breaking point.

     In overnight talks with EU leaders Theresa May blasted Putin for "undermining the West's efforts" to provide a political settlement in Syria as the horrific scenes in Aleppo play out.

     The international moves against Russia come as it's understood that the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is on a course to sail through the North Sea and then the English Channel.

     At the same time, two other Russian corvettes, which are travelling north towards the UK from the direction of Portugal, are also set to be watched by the Navy.

     Two Royal Navy destroyers have been sent to meet them with a Ministry of Defence spokesman confirming it planned to "man-mark them every step of the way".

     Warship HMS Duncan sailed from Portsmouth on Tuesday to monitor the Kuznetsov task group, which is currently heading south from the Norwegian Sea towards the North Sea.

Armed guards carrying assault rifles protected the
aircraft carrier off Dover

     HMS Richmond has also escorted the group in the Norwegian Sea further north of the UK between Iceland and Norway.

     And HMS Dragon is also due to sail to meet two Russian corvettes travelling north towards the UK from the direction of Portugal.

     Warship HMS Duncan sailed from Portsmouth on Tuesday to monitor the Kuznetsov task group, which is currently heading south from the Norwegian Sea towards the North Sea.

     HMS Richmond has also escorted the group in the Norwegian Sea further north of the UK between Iceland and Norway.

     And HMS Dragon is also due to sail to meet two Russian corvettes travelling north towards the UK from the direction of Portugal.

     It is understood that shadowing ships is regular business for the Royal Navy, who have been supported by Royal Air Force surveillance aircraft on this occasion.

     Navy ships will continue to escort the Russian task group and provide a visible presence south through the North Sea and English Channel as the Russian fleet sail through and carry out their flying operations, the MoD said.

     The UK is working alongside NATO partners to monitor the warships passing the UK this week.

     All the while tensions are ratcheting up as Theresa May told European leaders they must act to stop Russia's appalling behaviour in Syria, amid fears some countries are dragging their feet.

     The Prime Minister urged the EU to send a "robust united message" to Moscow over its bombing campaign supporting Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

     At a Brussels summit, Mrs May said the current assault on Aleppo was "particularly horrific" and Russia's actions had "undermined the West's efforts" to provide a political settlement.

Russian battlecruiser Pyotr Velikiy

     EU leaders agreed last night that they needed to remain united in policies towards Moscow.

     "Leaders emphasized all sorts of Russian hostilities from airspace violations to information campaigns, cyber attacks, interference into the political processes in the EU and beyond," sai EU summit chair Donald Tusk.

     "Given these examples, it is clear that Russia's strategy is to weaken the EU," he said.

     "Creating tensions with Russia is not our aim. We are simply reacting to steps taken by Russia. Of course the EU is always ready to engage in dialogue but we will not compromise our values or principles.

     "That is why we agreed to stay the course and above all to keep the unity of the EU," he said.

     EU leaders also agreed to consider all available options if Russian military continued to commit atrocities in Syria alongside the Syrian army.

     But the leaders stopped short of spelling out in their conclusions that these options included new sanctions against individuals and entities, as in the initial draft of the conclusions.

Israel after 3 new submarines from Germany

Israel has five of the state-of-the-art German
submarines, with a sixth due for delivery in 2017

(AFP Photo/Jack Guez)

     Jerusalem (AFP) --- Israel is seeking to buy three more advanced submarines from Germany at a combined price of 1.2 billion euros ($1.3 billion), an Israeli newspaper reported Friday.

     The Maariv daily said that a deal due to be signed on November 7 aims to replace the oldest vessels in its existing Dolphin fleet, which began entering service in 1999.

     German government spokesman Georg Streiter told AFP that Israel is considering buying new submarines to replace its existing fleet "from 2027 on."

     He said discussions on German financial assistance for the purchase were being held, "on different levels".

     The Israeli defence ministry declined to comment.

     Israel already has five of the state-of-the-art German submarines, with a sixth due for delivery in 2017, Maariv said.

     Foreign military sources say the Dolphins can be equipped with missiles armed with nuclear warheads.

     They say Israel has between 100 and 200 warheads and missiles capable of delivering them.

     Israel is the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear power, refusing to confirm or deny it has such weapons.

     "The new submarines are said to be more advanced, longer, and equipped with better accessories," Maariv said.

     In 2012 the influential German news weekly Der Spiegel quoted former high-ranking German defence ministry officials saying that Berlin always assumed Israel was putting nuclear warheads on the Dolphin-class vessels.

     German Chancellor Angela Merkel's office said at the time all submarines had been delivered to Israel unarmed.

     "The federal government will not speculate on subsequent arming," spokesman Steffen Seibert said then.

Bosphorus ship movements – 20 October 2016

     Liman”. This is a Russian intelligence gathering ship that is part of the Black Sea Fleet. This ship was heading southbound into the Mediterranean.

On 20 October only one ship was spotted and the was the Moma Class “

NATO shadows Russian naval force

     Brussels (AFP) --- British warships on Thursday shadowed a Russian aircraft carrier battle group through the North Sea as NATO voiced fears the powerful force could soon join in attacks on Syria's besieged city of Aleppo.

     NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance would monitor the eight-ship force in "a responsible and measured" way as it headed to the Mediterranean, the latest cat-and-mouse encounter in two years of Cold-War style tensions.

     "We are concerned Russia's carrier group will support military operations in Syria in ways which increase human and civilian suffering," Stoltenberg said at North Atlantic Treaty Organisation headquarters in Brussels.

     "This group may be used to... increase attacks on Aleppo," the former Norwegian premier told a press conference after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

     Stoltenberg said NATO was also concerned about Russia's "continuing destabilisation" of eastern Ukraine, where Moscow-backed rebels are battling Ukrainian government forces two years after what he reiterated as Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea.

     European Union leaders also meeting in the Belgian capital meanwhile warned Russia that they will consider sanctions over its role in the Syrian conflict if Moscow does not stop "crimes" in the devastated city of Aleppo.

     NATO-Russia ties have sunk to lows not seen since the Cold War as President Vladimir Putin reasserts Russian power through intervention in both Ukraine and Syria.

     A Royal Navy spokesman told AFP that the battle group spearheaded by the Admiral Kuznetsov aircraft carrier was the biggest deployment of Russian naval assets seen off British shores in recent years.

     Britain's HMS Richmond frigate and the HMS Duncan air defence destroyer were monitoring the task force, which also included the nuclear-powered Pyotr Veliky battle cruiser and the Vice-Admiral Kulakov destroyer.

- 'Test the alliance' -

     Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon said the Russian naval deployment was aimed at "testing" British and broader NATO capabilities

     "The Russian fleet that is now sailing from the North ... is clearly designed to test the alliance. It's being marked every step of the way by the Royal Navy and ships and planes of other NATO members as well.

     "It's clearly designed ... to test our response, and any weaknesses in the alliance, and we must make sure we respond in due measure," Fallon said.

     The deployment comes after Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the Admiral Kuznetsov, part of its Northern Fleet, would be sent to the eastern Mediterranean to boost its naval forces in the area.

     Russia has been staging a bombing campaign in Syria for the past year in support of long-time ally President Bashar al-Assad and deployed a naval contingent to back up its operation.

     A Royal Navy spokesman said the Russian ships were "behaving very well", including booking areas for flying and calling up coastguard stations.

     A NATO official said separately the deployment "does not inspire confidence" that Moscow is seeking a political solution to the Syria crisis even as it implemented a temporary "humanitarian pause" to operations on Thursday.

     Since tensions erupted over Ukraine two years ago, Russian air and naval forces have had a number of close shaves with their NATO counterparts.

     In November, NATO member Turkey shot down a Russian warplane on the Turkish-Syrian border, sending relations into a tailspin before both sides recently mended fences.

Bosphorus ship movements – 19 October 2016

Donuzlav

    On the 19 October two Russian ships traveled through the Bosphorus. Heading into the Mediterranean was the Russian survey, research and intelligence gathering ship the “Donuzlav” The second ship was the Tarantul-III class missile boat “Ivanovets” (954). The Ivanovets is part of the 295th Sulinsk Missile Boat Division of the 41st Missile Boat Brigade of the Black Sea Fleet. This ship was heading back into the Black Sea.

Ivanovets (954)

Bosphorus ship movements - 18 October 2016

Georgiy Pobedonesets (016)

     On 18 October 2016 two Russian Naval ships passed through the Bosphorus.
One was the Georgiy Pobedonsesets that headed northbound this ship is part of the Russian Northern fleet.
     The other ship was the Nikolai Filchenkov which was heading southbound this ship is part of the Black Sea fleet and is an older landing ship that can carry carry on board 1500 tons of equipment and goods and 300-400 people, or to translate into more material terms, 45 armoured personnel carriers or 50 tractor-trailers.

Nikolai Filchenkov (152)

     Both these ships have been used as part of the Russian "Syrian Express".

Know where your closest bunker is as Russia warns its citizens of IMMINENT Nuclear War with West

     NUCLEAR WAR could be imminent as Russia told its citizens to urgently prepare for a devastating radioactive conflict as relations with the West stoop to their lowest since the Cold War.

     A terrifying Russian television broadcast explicitly told civilians to find out where their nearest bomb shelter is and repeatedly asked viewers if they were ready for nuclear war.

     One apocalyptic broadcast told viewers on Moscow's state-owned TV channel NTV: "If it should one day happen, every one of you should know where the nearest bomb shelter is. It’s best to find out now."

     The enraged host, Evgeny Kiselyov, blasted America's "impudent behaviour" and spent two hours warning that a conflict could take "nuclear dimensions".

     Aggressive posturing from Russia in recent weeks has seen the state force 40 million of its citizens to take part in a massive defence drill to prepare them for a nuclear holocaust.

     Russia’s military announced it would run the country-wide drill in preparation of a large-scale war.

     The governor of St Petersburg clarified what bread rations people could expect should Russia come under attack – 300 grams for 20 days.

     The Kremlin also ordered nuclear capable missiles to be rolled into a base in mainland Europe, on an enclave near Poland called Kaliningrad.

     It comes as Russia vowed to shoot down any American fighter planes that attack President Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria.

     Verbal jousting between the US, Britain and Russia over the issue of the ongoing bombardment of civilians in Syria are reaching a peak, with the very real possibility of genuine armed conflict between the nations taking place over the city of Aleppo.

     But one expert believes Putin's latest ramping-up of tensions is simply a tactic to prevent the US from interfering in Syria and to put the incoming American President on the back foot when they take office next year.

INFLATABLE weapons aid Russian military

     RUSSIA is secretly deploying life-size INFLATABLE weapons in a bid to trick Western satellites scanning for Vladimir Putin's military movements.

     The blow-up balloon airforce is intended to fool surveillance jets into thinking Russia's arsenal is larger than it actually is.

     Among the make-believe weaponry are MiG-31 and Su-27 fighters, T-72 and T-80 main battle tanks, and a complete inflatable version of a S-300 surface-to-air missile system.

     They are supposedly believable up to 200 metres away but can de deflated in minutes, making them a versatile and cheap alternative to real machinery.

     The decoy weapons are made by Rusbal, a company that provides Russia's Ministry of Defence with blow-up tanks, jets and missile launchers.

     Aleksei Komarov, the military engineer who helped create the inflatables, told the New York Times: "If you study the major battles of history, you see that trickery wins every time.

     "Nobody ever wins honestly."

     The firm specialises in hot air balloons but also produces weapon models including low-altitude radar machines.

     A T-80 tank weighs 154 pounds, costs about £10,000, and packs down into just two duffel bags.

An entire battalion of 31 fake tanks costs around £300,000 and takes just two and a half hours to set up.

     Rusbal director Maria Oparina admitted there was "a lot of skepticism" at first but now the company is exporting the balloons around the world.

     The firm made around £2million of inflatable S-300 antiaircraft missile systems to sell to Iran.

     It started life as a Russian toy company in 1993 by a hot air balloon enthusiast before straying into military replicas.

     Wartime deceptions have been common practice for centuries, with the allied forces tricking the Germans into thinking it was going to launch the D-Day landing from another part of France using dolls instead of soldiers.

Russia accused of financing anti-NATO campaign in Montenegro

   PODGORICA --- Russia is pouring money into Montenegro's election campaign in an attempt to derail the country's progress towards joining NATO, the country's Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said on Thursday, three days ahead of an election.

   Djukanovic, who has led the tiny Balkan country as president or prime minister for more than 25 years, is facing his toughest ever electoral challenge from opposition parties that accuse him of cronyism and of treating Montenegro as a personal fiefdom.

   In an interview with Reuters, he said opposition parties were being financed by Moscow, which saw Sunday's parliamentary vote as a final opportunity to stop the Balkan region's rush to integrate with the European Union and the Atlantic alliance.

   "Russia has engaged a serious financial potential, which is I assume, made possible through its oligarchs and funneled through secret channels through Serbia and Republika Srpska," Djukanovic said, referring to the Serbian part of Bosnia, Montenegro's northern neighbour.

   "Traditional opposition, pro-Serb parties are now proponents of Russian interests in the Balkans," he added.

   "These elections are the last chance for opponents of Montenegro and the Balkans adopting European values," he said.

   Russia and opposition parties have denied allegations that Moscow has intervened in the election campaign, though Russia's foreign minister has dubbed as "irresponsible" NATO's planned admission of Montenegro.

   Sunday's vote pits Djukanovic's Democratic Party of Socialists against two major opposition alliances, containing a mixture of pro-Serb and pro-Western parties.

   They accuse Djukanovic of using scare tactics to stay in power.

   "He labels every opponent a danger to Montenegro and its state interests," Nebojsa Medojevic, a senior figure in the opposition Democratic Front alliance, said on Thursday.

   He also accused Djukanovic of being the one most closely aligned with Moscow's interests.

   "Russian interests and influence entered Montenegro during Djukanovic's (rule). In 2005, Djukanovic communicated closely with Russian official politics, informal centers of power, the Russian mafia and intelligence structures," Medojevic said.

   He pledged to hold Djukanovic to account for alleged corruption if he took power.

Croatia and Slovenia have already joined NATO and the EU, while Serbia and Bosnia are both pursuing EU membership.

   NATO membership is a sensitive issue in Montenegro, which was bombed by NATO in 1999 when it and Serbia were all that remained of Yugoslavia. Nonetheless, it is nearing the end of the accession process. Ten countries have already ratified its accession treaty.

Russia ordering families of all officials to fly home as tensions mount over the prospect of a global war

     Russia is ordering all of its officials to fly home any relatives living abroad amid heightened tensions over the prospect of global war, it has been claimed.

     Politicians and high-ranking figures are said to have received a warning from president Vladimir Putin to bring their loved-ones home to the 'Motherland', according to local media.

     It comes after Putin cancelled a planned visit to France amid a furious row over Moscow's role in the Syrian conflict and just days after it emerged the Kremlin had moved nuclear-capable missiles near to the Polish border.

     Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has also warned that the world is at a 'dangerous point' due to rising tensions between Russia and the US.

     According to the Russian site Znak.com, administration staff, regional administrators, lawmakers of all levels and employees of public corporations have been ordered to take their children out of foreign schools immediately.

     Failure to act will see officials jeopardising their chances of promotion, local media has reported.

     The exact reason for the order is not yet clear.

     But Russian political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky is quoted as saying: 'This is all part of the package of measures to prepare elites to some 'big war'.' 

     Relations between Russia and the US are at their lowest since the Cold War and have soured in recent days after Washington pulled the plug on Syria talks and accused Russia of hacking attacks.

     The Kremlin has also suspended a series of nuclear pacts, including a symbolic cooperation deal to cut stocks of weapons-grade plutonium. 

     Just days ago, it was reported that Russia had moved nuclear-capable missiles near to the Polish border as tensions escalated between the world’s largest nation and the West.

     The Iskander missiles sent to Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic Sea between Nato members Poland and Lithuania, are now within range of major Western cities including Berlin.

     Polish officials – whose capital Warsaw is potentially threatened – have described the move as of the 'highest concern'. 

RUSSIA TESTS BALLISTIC MISSILES AS TENSIONS BUILD

     Russia's military conducted a series of intercontinental ballistic missile tests on Wednesday, the latest flexing of its muscles as tensions with the US spike over Syria.

     Russian forces fired a nuclear-capable rocket from a Pacific Fleet submarine in the Sea of Okhotsk north of Japan, state-run RIA Novosti reported.

     A Topol missile was shot off from a submarine in the Barents Sea, and a third was launched from an inland site in the north-west of the vast country, Russian agencies reported.

     The latest display of might by Moscow - which has been conducting regular military drills since ties with the West slumped in 2014 over Ukraine - comes as tensions have shot up in recent days.

     Russia has pulled the plug on a series of deals with the US - including a symbolic disarmament pact between the two nuclear powers to dispose of weapons-grade plutonium - as Washington has halted talks on Syria.

     The Kremlin has also moved an air defence missile system and missile cruisers to the war-ravaged country to bolster its forces there.

     That comes as the West has accused Moscow of committing potential war crimes in its bombing of rebel-held part of the city of Aleppo in support of an assault by regime forces.

     Washington has previously lashed out at Moscow for resorting to alleged "nuclear sabre-rattling" as East-West relations fell to the worst level since the Cold War following Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine in March 2014.

     Putin's decision to cancel his Paris visit came a day after French President Francois Hollande said Syrian forces had committed a 'war crime' in the battered city of Aleppo with the support of Russian air strikes.

     Putin had been due in Paris on October 19 to inaugurate a spiritual centre at a new Russian Orthodox church near the Eiffel Tower, but Hollande had insisted his Russian counterpart also took part in talks with him about Syria.

     The unprecedented cancellation of a visit so close to being finalised is a 'serious step... reminiscent of the Cold War', said Russian foreign policy analyst Fyodor Lukyanov.

     'This is part of the broader escalation in the tensions between Russia and the West, and Russia and NATO,' he told AFP.

     The Kremlin has also been angered over the banning of the Russian Paralympic team from the Rio Olympics amid claims of state-sponsored doping of its athletes.

     Meanwhile, the top advisor to US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has said the FBI is investigating Russia's possible role in hacking thousands of his personal emails.

     But Russian officials have vigorously rejected accusations of meddling in the US presidential elections and dismissed allegations that Moscow was behind a series of recent hacks on US institutions. 

     Retired Russian Lt. Gen. Evgeny Buzhinsky told the BBC: 'Of course there is a reaction. As far as Russia sees it, as Putin sees it, it is full-scale confrontation on all fronts. If you want a confrontation, you'll get one.

     'But it won't be a confrontation that doesn't harm the interests of the United States. You want a confrontation, you'll get one everywhere.'

     Earlier this week British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson waded into the row, calling for anti-war campaigners to protest outside the Russian embassy in London.

     Johnson said the 'wells of outrage are growing exhausted' and anti-war groups were not expressing sufficient outrage at the conflict in Aleppo.

     'Where is the Stop the War Coalition at the moment? Where are they?' he said during a parliamentary debate. 

Russia and China to Counter U.S. Missile Defense

     Russia said it’s working with China to counter U.S. plans to expand its missile-defense network, which the two nations see as targeting their military assets.

     The upgrades aim to give Washington the ability to launch a nuclear strike “with impunity,” Lieutenant General Viktor Poznikhir of the Russian Armed Forces General Staff said Tuesday at a security forum in Xiangshan, China, according to a transcript of his speech posted on the Defense Ministry’s website. The Asian neighbours this year conducted a joint missile-defense exercise of their computer command staff, he said.

     “We are working together on ways to minimize possible damage to the security of our countries," Poznikhir said. “The illusion of invulnerability and impunity under the guise of missile defense will encourage Washington to make unilateral steps in dealing with global and regional issues. This could lead to a decrease in the threshold for using nuclear weapons to preempt enemy actions.”

     Russia’s concern about U.S. nuclear capabilities highlights a deepening rift between the Cold War foes as they trade accusations over the war in Syria. While NATO members have stressed that the alliance’s global missile shield will be a defense solely against potential attacks from so-called “rogue states,” particularly Iran and North Korea, Russia and China have been voicing concerns over their own security.

U.S. THAAD missile system

     In May, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that placing parts of the system in Romania and Poland -- once Soviet satellites -- is threatening peace in Europe and warned that it may trigger a new arms race. China described the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system as an "out-and-out strategic" move that threatens its national security, warning about taking “necessary measures to safeguard” its interests. The plan has already soured Chinese ties with South Korea.

     According to Poznikhir, the U.S. defense system includes weapons that, if fired from a warship in the Baltic Sea, can intercept ballistic missiles launched from the European part of Russia before a nuclear warhead is separated. U.S. missile defense launchpads can also be used for Tomahawk cruise missiles and there is no guarantee that such systems wouldn’t replace Thaad complexes in South Korea, he said.